There was something different about the Al-Quds march this year. First of all the number of participants were remarkably less than previous years. After waiting for one hour, at the Portland Place, where the marchers gathered for more busloads to arrive, the policeman I spoke to put the best estimate of their numbers at around 300 max.
I also saw no flags of the Islamic Republic and no posters of the Supreme Leader this year. It was as if the organisers were more careful to hide the Iranian connection this time.
As usual there were hardly any Palestinians on the march, the rest were a hardcore of Iranian regime loyalists and Supreme Leader worshippers plus mainly Asian Muslims. There were very few English 'useful idiots' on the march this year, didn't see any Socialist Worker Party members or banners, there was still however at least one 'useful idiot' Leninist who joined the marchers with a red flag which had a hammer and sickle inside a five pointed star waving on the back of his push bike with cpgb written at the bottom of it, Communist Party of Great Britain, I assume. I always have the most contempt for these UK Communists who lend their support to IRI sponsored events. Do they not know how many young Communist sympathisers have been executed by the Islamic Republic? Have they no sympathy with the mothers and fathers who lost, in some cases all of their children who had become Leftist supporters after the 1979 revolution in Iran? Like the Behkish family for example, who had five of their children executed by the regime. It irritates me to no end to see these comfortable champagne Socialists never express an iota of solidarity for their Iranian comrades and yet march with their murderers.
I also saw one woman with peroxide hair, wearing a mini skirt in the march. I felt sorry at her stupidity, does she not know what would happen to her, if she went out in the streets in Iran dressed like that?
Most people we managed to speak to had no idea the march was organised by the Iranian regime and most of the ones who we managed to speak to, decided not to join the march, like these two Irish friends of Palestine who decided to leave after they realised the Al-Quds march was a propaganda march sponsored and organised by the Islamic Republic of Iran
After all who in their right mind that didn't have a hidden agenda could argue with what we were saying? how can the Islamic Republic, which is neither Islamic nor a Republic and nor Iranian, and has brought misery, despotism and poverty for the Iranian people, liberate Palestine or anywhere else?
On the whole it seems the naked brutality of the dictatorships in Syria and in Iran has finally opened some eyes and it has definitely cost these dictatorships a lot of supporters.
Another thing that irritated me, was the two BBC Persian reporters who had popped out of their offices in Portland Place, to see what was going on. They were mingling and chatting with the IRNA reporters and when I asked them why they don't make a report of our counter protest and talk to us, one of them gave a condescending smile, saying there is only a few of you! Well if BBC Persian for once reported the event instead of copy/pasting its mundane news, may be more people would find out about what Al-Quds march is and join us. In any case what difference does it make how many of us there were, the important thing is we were being effective by talking to people and persuading them not to join the march and our message that the Islamic Republic or Bahsar Assad can not bring liberty for Palestinians was worth reporting.
When I came home, the news was all about the Rebels closing in on Gaddafi. It looks like the Libyan dictator is seeing his last days in power after more than four decades of absolute rule. The Al-Quds march this year also seemed to have the same message, dictators in the Middle East are losing support and are on their way out. Good riddance to all of them.
